Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 21
Nov. 13th, 2020 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnMuch slower because of world-events/Life-in-general/Yuletide/holidays, but still going!
End of Yuletide signups:
4 requests for Frederician RPF :D :D 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 2 offers (I hope we did not scare you off, third offer!)
End of Yuletide signups:
4 requests for Frederician RPF :D :D 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 2 offers (I hope we did not scare you off, third offer!)
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-15 01:09 am (UTC)going by his pre-1740 letters, it seems to have been quite risky to even write to him (see below).
Wow, yeah! I knew Duhan was in trouble, but I had no idea it was this difficult to write to him.
which makes me wonder if his pre-1740 letters might have been destroyed by Fritz for safety reasons.
Entirely possible.
The book edition also includes the two versions of Duhan's eulogy, one written by Formey (I assume? if he was writing academy eulogies in 1745 already)
Indeed, yes, and it's in the same volume in our library as the Peter Keith one. In fact, Formey refers to the Duhan eulogy in his Keith eulogy, saying that he got caught up in the same events of 1730 as those already mentioned (extremely allusively!) in the "Du Han" (Formey's spelling) eulogy.
The correspondence starts with an endearing one-liner you probably know, 15-year-old!Fritz's letter from 1727
I do, and mainly I remember it because one biographer gives him a hard time about talking money with Duhan, and I'm extremely indignant, because Fritz is talking about how he wants to give Duhan money! Surely he should be praised.
[Signed "Frideric Pr.R. (L.S.)" and I have no idea what the L.S. stands for...]
Googling suggests maybe "locus sigilli": place for the seal.
particularly the 1745 letters are clingy "write me more often!" ones, so much so that I was a bit surprised, until Fritz mentioned that Jordan and Keyserlingk had just died, and I remembered that he was also on the outs with Wilhelmine and Voltaire during that time.
Yep. I found the "widower (that again!) and orphan" bit, which I had seen quoted elsewhere, very touching.
The 1730s letters are very affectionate, with lots of promises to do more for Duhan once he's able to, full of encouragement (it sounds like Duhan was struggling a bit in exile, possibly with depression)
:/
Case in point, the marble quote in context, July 15th, 1733, because I have to admit, without Mildred's comment, I would not necessarily have made that connection:
Yeah, I wouldn't have either, or at least it wouldn't have been obvious. I'm following MacDonogh's interpretation, which seems reasonable to me. Especially in light of that mirror quote, which I've seen not only in MacDonogh but also elsewhere. :/
MacDonogh's exact translation: 'You know that my situation has greatly improved, but what you possibly don’t realise is that they have cut deeply into the marble, and that stays for ever.'
My father only gave me life; are the talents of the mind not preferable?
I owe you more, finally, than the author of my days:
He gave me life in his young love;
But he who teaches me, whose reason enlightens me,
He is my nurturer, and my only father.
WOW. This is so great! I always wondered how Fritz felt at this age about having a surrogate father, and I'm pleased to find he was favorably disposed toward the idea. (This is relevant for my fix-it fic WIP, where not only does Duhan show up in French exile, but Fritz ultimately gets adopted by French Comte Rottembourg.)
Duhan's father has died and Fritz writes a condolence letter...
Aww, good job with the condolence letter, Fritz. I think Fritz writes the best condolence letters when he had no emotional involvement with the person who died. When he does...watch out.
Ingratitude is a vice to which I feel an aversion of temperament
Austrians: *start coughing madly*
October 9th has the poem dedicated to Duhan, in which Fritz praises him as a mentor and as someone he should have listened to earlier instead of seeking pleasures in his youth
Ooh, interesting. Because Wilhelmine, in her memoirs, says that once Duhan left, Fritz started leading a dissipated life, which wouldn't have happened if Duhan was there. I was wondering to what extent she was struggling to come to terms with the fact that Fritz was growing up and away from her
and had boyfriends now, but considering this is also the time of the Dresden trip, and Fritz was a teenage boy living in a very repressive environment, the lure of the forbidden may have been strong.I still headcanon that Fritz did some experimenting when he was a teenager, discovered that he wasn't really into women sexually, and eventually that even with men, sex was overrated. But who knows.
when I will see that, living in the same city, you will not live as if you were separated by a hundred miles from me.
Fritz continues to have zero chill when he feels neglected. Also, this reminds me oddly of the letter in 1746 to Heinrich about living in the same house/palace as him and managing to avoid him with astonishing success.
Nov 22nd, 1745, the first of the two available Duhan letters shows how religious he was, which kind of surprised me tbh (although it's kind of hard to judge tone when there are only two very short letters to go by):
Doesn't actually surprise me; a number of Fritz's friends were, and let's not forget Duhan was appointed by FW who thought he would be a good role model. Also, he's a few weeks from dying (January 3, 1746, per Wikipedia), and I notice Suhm and Fritz's discourse gets more religious whenever Suhm thinks he's about to die.
And then Duhan died not even a month later. :(
:(
MacDonogh tells me not only Fritz but his younger brothers got to see Duhan one last time before he died, immediately after they returned to Berlin from the Second Silesian War on December 28, 1745 (peace was made in the Treaty of Dresden on December 25, 1745):
Frederick, with all three of his brothers, rode straight round to Duhan’s house. 'It was a noble sight, to see a dying man surrounded by princes, and by a triumphant monarch, who in the midst of the incessant clamour of exultation, sought only to alleviate the sick man’s pains.' Frederick was indeed touchingly fond of the man who, despite the most fervent opposition imaginable, had first incited his love of art, poetry and philosophy. Duhan died the next day and Frederick agreed to look after his old teacher’s family. His sister was given a pension, married a French nobleman, and lived next door to Princess Amalia on the Linden.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-15 07:51 am (UTC)Austrians: *start coughing madly*
Peter Keith: feels a constricted throat coming up.
Doris Ritter: bursts into tears
Ooh, interesting. Because Wilhelmine, in her memoirs, says that once Duhan left, Fritz started leading a dissipated life, which wouldn't have happened if Duhan was there. I was wondering to what extent she was struggling to come to terms with the fact that Fritz was growing up and away from her
and had boyfriends now, but considering this is also the time of the Dresden trip, and Fritz was a teenage boy living in a very repressive environment, the lure of the forbidden may have been strong.It would also mean those "he debauched himself in his youth, picked up STDS and now is impotent" rumors Boswell gets told about in 1764 have at least the "wild youth" part with a bit of a foundation in truth. Mind you, a) we're talking about two years, right? (1728 - 1730), and b) which prince (FW always excepted, and also future Louis XVI, husband of Marie Antoinette) of the 18th century isn't reported to have had a lot of sex in his late teens/early 20s?
Fritz continues to have zero chill when he feels neglected. Also, this reminds me oddly of the letter in 1746 to Heinrich about living in the same house/palace as him and managing to avoid him with astonishing success.
Clearly early proof of Heinrich's strategic abilities. :) True enough about the odd parallel. Though it just brings home to me how odd the Heinrich complaint is: I mean, Duhan is the beloved teacher/mentor/Good Dad Figure, of course Fritz would want to see him as often as possible. But Heinrich is the bratty younger brother notable only at this point for having fallen for the same hot page Fritz may or may not have had his eye on himself.
Awwwwwwwwwww on Fritz & brothers visiting Duhan on his death bed and getting there in time. Btw, if he took his brothers along, does that mean Duhan taught AW, too? (He can't have taught Heinrich or Ferdinand, given the date of his getting fired.)
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-15 02:46 pm (UTC)That did occur to me!
Btw, if he took his brothers along, does that mean Duhan taught AW, too? (He can't have taught Heinrich or Ferdinand, given the date of his getting fired.)
Hmm. Seems unlikely, since AW was not yet 5 years old when Fritz's letter was written. I would guess that during the first two Silesian Wars, when the younger brothers were hanging out with Bielfeld, they also spent time with Duhan (either of their own initiative or Fritz's), and he earned their respect and affection.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 05:39 am (UTC)Clearly early proof of Heinrich's strategic abilities. :)
Hee! But yes, an odd parallel and complaint :)
(still loling forever at future!Louis XVI not knowing how to have sex)
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-15 01:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, extremely allusively = "the storm that came over the Crown Prince and almost everyone close to him". In his own eulogy, Fritz describes Duhan's exile and its reasons as follows: Constant and lasting happiness is not the prerogative of humanity. Mr. Duhan was relegated to Prussia. But the cause for which he suffered, far from robbing him of public esteem or causing him remorse, could on the contrary have excited his vanity and animated his hopes. He loved the cause of his sorrows too much to complain about it, and he always retained the tranquility inseparable from good conduct, which, in the different situations of life, can be regarded as the touchstone of true philosophy.
I remember it because one biographer gives him a hard time about talking money with Duhan
Aw, that's quite the bad faith interpretation. He wants to make sure that Duhan is cared for during the rest of his days, how is that not endearing?
By the way, German translator has a very different issue at this point, his footnote in paraphrase: "It's always been strange to me that people are so interested in the king's bad spelling, but here we are, so let me show you what was deemed "finished education" and who's therefore to fault for said spelling. Original letter: Mon cher Duhan, Je vous promais que, quand j'aurez mon propre argent en main, je vous donnerez enuelement 2400 ecu par an, et je vous aimerais toujour encor un peu plus qu'asteure sil me l'est posible. Frideric Pr.R. (L.S.)"
All phonetic, and I admit, asteure would have stumped me. Oh, and Translator also mentions the difference in Fritz' handwriting.
Googling suggests maybe "locus sigilli": place for the seal.
Makes sense, though strange that it was worth transcribing.
I found the "widower (that again!) and orphan" bit, which I had seen quoted elsewhere, very touching.
Yeah, same.
The 1730s letters are very affectionate, with lots of promises to do more for Duhan once he's able to, full of encouragement (it sounds like Duhan was struggling a bit in exile, possibly with depression)
:/
Indeed. And I actually left out the letter that was clearest on this, from August 14th, 1738:
[...] Make the situation your destiny has placed you in bearable, as much as possible. Erase my memory from your mind, if it is an obstacle to your rest, and think only of making yourself as happy as you can imagine; it is the choice of wisdom, and it must be yours. Ban, for this purpose, any idea of exile, of fatherland and of penate[?] gods; talk a lot with books, and not with people of the world. As you can find this ancient company anywhere, you won't notice the change of location so much as you would without their help. Finally, lift your thoughts above anything that can make them melancholy or hypochondriac. [...]
Also has the "calm yourself to calm me" figure at the end - which, as you pointed out before, seems to have been the family's go-to for encouragement - despite the "erase me" here. :)
MacDonogh's exact translation: 'You know that my situation has greatly improved, but what you possibly don’t realise is that they have cut deeply into the marble, and that stays for ever.'
Looks like he changed pronoun and tense of the original "que l'on grave", which directs the interpretation a bit to make it clearer.
Aww, good job with the condolence letter, Fritz.
Heh, I thought about saying that, but decided to add a little suspense. ;) But yeah, it's much better than some others. Also, in the light of his own recent history, I found his thoughts on death and grief quite poignant.
Because Wilhelmine, in her memoirs, says that once Duhan left, Fritz started leading a dissipated life, which wouldn't have happened if Duhan was there.
Interesting! And possibly on point - here's the relevant part of the poem:
Ah! if, always following your scholarly lessons,
I had been able to get away from my distractions!
But this monster, rival of a wise intention,
To make it fail, endlessly disguises itself.
In a siren's voice and an impostor's tone,
It fills our minds with a flattering lie;
And when, without knowing it, its bait sweeps us away,
Foolishly, our care is wasted, and our study is in vain.
Therefore, my dear Duhan, in the age of pleasures
I was the vile toy of impetuous desires.
In the summer of my days, grown stronger,
Minerva should be the guide of my steps;
But unfortunately! wisdom is seldom the fruit
Of an overwhelming competition of tumult and noise.
That's why, withdrawn in the shadow of silence,
I seek, albeit late, virtue and science.
let's not forget Duhan was appointed by FW who thought he would be a good role model
Weeell. FW's judgement and all that. Also, it's fascinating to me that Duhan quite deliberately went against FW's clear instructions when it came to teaching Fritz things.
But this reminds me, I think some of FW's ire (and subsequently the danger in Fritz writing to Duhan) was probably due to predestination again? I remember reading that FW might have ended up blaming Duhan for Fritz' knowledge of it in 1730, even though Fritz tried to exonerate him on that front.
MacDonogh tells me not only Fritz but his younger brothers got to see Duhan one last time before he died,
Yeah, Fritz, in his eulogy, mentions that he went to him as soon as he returned from war, though not that his brothers were there as well, so the source for that must be something different.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-15 03:21 pm (UTC)Right? Give Fritz a break here.
By the way, German translator has a very different issue at this point, his footnote in paraphrase: "It's always been strange to me that people are so interested in the king's bad spelling, but here we are, so let me show you what was deemed "finished education" and who's therefore to fault for said spelling.
Hahaha, Carlyle considers the subject of Fritz's spelling in this letter *very* *important*:
Fritz learned to write a fine, free-flowing, rapid and legible business-hand; "Arithmetic" too, "Geography," and many other Useful Knowledges that had some geniality of character, or attractiveness in practice, were among his acquisitions; much, very much he learned in the course of his life; but to *spell*, much more to punctuate, and subdue the higher mysteries of Grammar to himself, was always an unachievable perfection. He did improve somewhat in after life; but here is the length to which he had carried that necessary art in the course of nine years' exertion, under Duhan and the subsidiary preceptors; it is in the following words and alphabetic letters that he gratefully bids Duhan farewell,— who surely cannot have been a very strict drill-sergeant in the arbitrary branches of schooling!
"Mon cher Duhan Je Vous promais (promets) que quand j'aurez (j'aurai) mon propre argent en main, je Vous donnerez (donnerai) enuelement (annuellement) 2400 ecu (ecus) par an, et je vous aimerais (aimerai) toujour encor (toujors [mildred: sic] encore) un peu plus q'asteure (qu'a cette heure) s'il me l'est (m'eest) posible (possible)."
The Document has otherwise its beauty; but such is the spelling of it. In fact his Grammar, as he would himself now and then regretfully discern, in riper years, with some transient attempt or resolution to remedy or help it, seems to have come mainly by nature; so likewise his "stylus" both in French and German,— a very fair style, too, in the former dialect:— but as to his spelling, let him try as he liked, he never came within sight of perfection.
I'm guessing that Fritz's handwriting, like that of many people, varied widely depending on how much of a hurry he was in.
Erase my memory from your mind, if it is an obstacle to your rest, and think only of making yourself as happy as you can imagine
Awwwwww. <3
penate[?] gods
Classics alert! The Penates are the Roman household gods, and metonymously used for the household. Most often used today in "lares and penates," where "Lares" are another set of protective Roman gods, and can also mean "household goods" by extension.
Looks like he changed pronoun and tense of the original "que l'on grave", which directs the interpretation a bit to make it clearer.
Yeah, and I would say he didn't "change the pronoun" so much as translate it fluently, because the French use "on" impersonally far beyond what English speakers, even British ones, do. Furthermore, "on" is a way I've seen Fritz, and later his siblings and subjects, write about the King, especially when they're talking about the King as abuser and/or potential abuser.
The tense *is* interesting. MacDonogh doesn't actually say "Katte and Küstrin," that was my interpretation given the past tense (what recent event could be described as cutting deeply into the marble?), and Fritz may actually be referring to, or at least including, his marriage. (Note the date: July 15, 1733 for the letter, June 12, 1733 for the wedding.)
Weeell. FW's judgement and all that. Also, it's fascinating to me that Duhan quite deliberately went against FW's clear instructions when it came to teaching Fritz things.
Oh, yeah. We've discussed before how FW focused on superficials and was very poor at actually reading people, including both his sons, and the people he hired to instruct his sons. But in addition to his courage in battle, which is what brought Duhan to FW's attention (Fritz later quipped that it was unusual to engage a tutor in a siege trench), Duhan may have come across as suitably pious, FW not realizing that for some people, religion and freethinking philosophy were compatible.
And yeah, FW totally dropped the ball on identifying Duhan as a potential teacher of forbidden subjects (at great risk to himself) and collector of the forbidden secret library. Go Duhan.
Given everything I've read about Keyserlingk, I have to wonder how on earth *he* appealed to FW as a governor of Fritz, even superficially.
I remember reading that FW might have ended up blaming Duhan for Fritz' knowledge of it in 1730, even though Fritz tried to exonerate him on that front.
Ooh, that's interesting. That's not ringing a bell, so I either never encountered it, or it has been erased from my memory. Likely the latter.
Yeah, Fritz, in his eulogy, mentions that he went to him as soon as he returned from war, though not that his brothers were there as well, so the source for that must be something different.
Yes, it must be, given the 'It was a noble sight, to see a dying man surrounded by princes, and by a triumphant monarch, who in the midst of the incessant clamour of exultation, sought only to alleviate the sick man’s pains.' quote. For all the Caesarian precdent, I don't think that's how Fritz wrote about himself. My guess was Bielfeld, and sure enough, the citation given is Bielfeld. The full passage:
[A triumphant Fritz has just ridden through Berlin and been hailed as "the Great" for the first time, when...]
His majesty was scarce seated when news was brought, that his old preceptor, M. Duhan von Jandun, lay at the point of death. As the king had an uncommon regard for this truly venerable person, founded on a long familiarity, and a sense of real obligation, the news affected him greatly; and his majesty expressd a strong desire to see him, and to give him the greatest comfort which it was possible, for a man who was on the threshold of life, to receive; and which the sight of his roial pupil, a prudent conqueror, and a philosophic hero, who brought back peace to his country and was at that moment in the midst of a glorious triumph, must necessarily afford.
By six in the evening the whole city was illuminated. The king went into his coach, attended by the prince of Prussia, and prince Henry: prince Ferdinand followed him. His majesty orderd the- pages to conduct him to M. Duhans, who livd in a sort of court, the houses, of which were so crowded with lamps, that they were obligd to open the windows of the chambers where the sick lay, to prevent their being suffocated by the heat. It was a noble sight, to see a dying man surrounded by princes, and by a triumphant monarch, who in the midst of the incessant clamor of exultation, sought only to alleviate the sick mans pangs; participating of his distress; and reflecting on the vanity of all human fame and grandeur. When his majesty had taken a tender adieu of M. Duhan, who livd but till the next day, he went again into his coach, and completed the tour of the city.
Now, Bielfeld is supposed to have (re)written his letters after the fact as a sort of memoir (we've seen some precedents), and the chronology doesn't quite work here, as Fritz arrived on December 28, according to my other sources (and if he was in Dresden on the 25th, that checks out) and Duhan died on the 6th, so Fritz can't literally have arrived, been feted, walked into his palace, sat down, gotten news that Duhan was dying, visited him, and Duhan died the next day. But, you can see what Bielfeld's getting at here by compressing the chronology, because he opens the passage with the moral of the story:
It should seem as if, in the highest enjoyments of human life, there were still some mixture of bitterness: for on this day of supreme festivity, the king could not prevent, anxiety and grief from stealing in upon him. His majesty was scarce seated...
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-17 06:44 am (UTC)You'd think so, and you'd be right in this particular case, but I have now browsed through the preface and the Fritzian eulogy of the German edition
Here's the literal text:
Fritz: "The heroic virtues and the glamorous qualities all of Europe loves and admires in his noble student are proof of how much the later knew how to use (Duhan's) teachings."
French editor, footnote: "As the King is talking about himself here, this comes across as a bit, strong, but undoubtedly he counted on his secretary getting credited for this passage."
German translator, footnote to footnote: "Being conscious of his excellent greatness was something a young King was entitled to who in his few years of government had done so much already, and had just concluded a second war victoriously. One lets vanity pass even in certain old writers!!"
My conclusion: yep, that's the state of mind The Great was in when writing the Marwitz letters and tells Wilhelmine the ways of how she's betrayed him, alright.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-17 11:01 am (UTC)Additionally, I wondered if Fritz' line might be a very veiled Voltaire reference, because in the "are the talents of the mind not preferable?" letter to Duhan from 1736, I left out that Fritz changed a couple of verses of the Henriade to express a similar sentiment (minus the self-complimentary exaggeration):
I owe you everything, master, I must admit it;
And if for a little virtue Europe praises me,
It's to you, dear Duhan, to you that I owe it, etc.
(Henriade: I owe him everything, madame, I must admit it:
And if for a little virtue Europe praises me,
If Rome has even often esteemed my exploits,
It is to you, illustrious shadow, to you that I owe it.)
--
The way the opinionated (and intensely Fritz fannish) German translator keeps arguing with the French editor he's translating via footnote is indeed hilarious
Right? They are both quite opinionated really, which makes it fun.
Editor: Introduction*
*Translator: Here I'm sparing you some comments on vanity and the transigence of glory which have nothing to do with anything.
Editor, second sentence of the introduction: In this book you'll see an example of the king's orginal character before his correspondence with Voltaire and d'Alembert changed him irrevocably!*
*Translator: Totally disagree, d'Alembert only became a thing after the 7 Years War, can be disregarded, and Voltaire only changed the king's literary taste and character.
Also, the rumours: There seems to have been one going around that Seckendorff helped get Hanau (the secret library librarian) out of exile after only a few months? I don't know anything about this, but:
Editor: This totally shows that Seckendorff did his utmost to help the Crown Prince's cause!*
*Translator: I think this was only a rumour, Friedrich himself wrote that Seckendorff caused lots of trouble for him!
Editor: It is therefore quite strange that the King wrote about Seckendorff as he did.*
*Translator: It's even stranger that the editor feels the need to accuse the king of ungratefulness. Total bullshit.
Finally, I couldn't help but smile at this quote from the editor: The way the King called for Duhan right after he ascended the throne is incomparable.
Algarotti in retrospect: Weeell....
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-17 12:16 pm (UTC)Seckendorff himself, while imprisoned by Fritz in Magdeburg, to Lehndorff: "As for him calling me an ursurer" - which Fritz did in the Histoire de la Maison de Brandenburg - "I haven't been one to him, as I never saw anything of the XXXXX Taler I gave him again".
My own take: Seckendorff, once he'd decided FW would not actually execute Fritz, did push for reconciliation and was indeed ready and willing to donate Austrian money to both Fritz and Wilhelmine, all as an investment into the future, of course. Fritz and Wilhelmine were ready to accept this money without ever intending to do something for the Austrians in return; as Seckendorff and Grumbkow previously had done a lot to widen the rift between FW and SD, and as a consequence between FW and them, I doubt they felt as much as a flicker of gratitude. The Fritz-worshipping crowd near the end of 18th Century, otoh, would never have believed their heroic Prussian hero would ever have accepted money from two men he despised (Seckendorff and Grumbkow), even if he didn't intend to do something for it. Not the stalwart fighter against corruption!
So you have in the 1790s Fritz fans who not only utterly believe Fritz when it comes to Seckendorff in general but blame the Küstrin fiasco almost entirely on him and declare it was all an attempt to force heroic Protestant Fritz to marry Catholic MT (or her sister), since no one has access to the letters between Seckendorff and Prince Eugene, or Grumbkow and Fritz, which make it very clear this was Fritz' idea and that the Austrians, far from being enthused at the prospect, went all "yeah, no!" Zimmermann is the sole early Fritzologue who proposes the idea Fritz might have wanted to marry MT, but of course he goes over the top with it and has this adventurous spin where Fritz doesn't intend to flee to England or France at all but to Austria to marry MT, and this, quoth Zimmermann, is why Seckendorff and the Emperor pleaded for mercy later with FW.
Another outlier is the Seckendorff biographer, who doesn't appear ot have had access to the Austrian state archives with the Eugene letters, either, but who champions Seckendorff the misunderstood hero in general.
In other news, kudos to you for the Henriade catch. I'm reminded of the biographer who points out that with the start of the 7 Years War, Fritz changes his usual goodbye to a direct Henri IV quote from the Henriade - which implicitly casts all his opponents as the bigotted League and himself as the most popular of French monarchs - and I think one can never go wrong assuming he had Voltaire on the brain in some fashion if he's older than 16...
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 01:40 pm (UTC)beginnings of the Mafia AUmoney thing. I recently came across the 1732 letter exchange that seems to have started it and was very amused, both by the way Seckendorff writes - "well, since I'm very invested in a good relationship between you and your father, we don't want him to find out about the new debt, do we? here's a detailed instruction on how to receive and spend the money. please destroy this letter and sent me proof" - and by the fact that Fritz apparently didn't destroy it and debuted (?) his 'secret code' of 'books' and 'poems' in his reply.re: The Henriade catch, just to be clear, it was mentioned in a footnote on the letter, I just applied it to the eulogy.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 05:48 am (UTC)Finally, I couldn't help but smile at this quote from the editor: The way the King called for Duhan right after he ascended the throne is incomparable.
Algarotti in retrospect: Weeell....
HEE!
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-17 05:03 pm (UTC)My conclusion: yep, that's the state of mind The Great was in when writing the Marwitz letters and tells Wilhelmine the ways of how she's betrayed him, alright.
Yep, that plus in desperate need of a trip to take the waters = not easy to deal with. Remember when I speculated that Darget + Marwitz was maybe his sex drive spiking right after conquering Silesia and being called The Great?
I am really enjoying the battle of the footnotes, hee.
Also, German translator's footnote about excusing vanity reminds me of this bit from Theodor Mommsen, 19th century German historian, who would have given Caesar a blow job given the chance: "[Caesar] retained a certain foppishness in his outward appearance, or, to speak more correctly, the pleasing consciousness of his own manly beauty."
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 05:47 am (UTC)Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 05:46 am (UTC)Duhan may have come across as suitably pious, FW not realizing that for some people, religion and freethinking philosophy were compatible.
Oh, yeah, like
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 07:48 am (UTC)Somewhat relatedly, I recently came across the anecdote of G1's early days in Britain again when he didn't speak much English and his PM and cabinent apparantly were none too good in French (and of course did not have a word of German) - making Latin, for a while, the default language of communication. Now G1 was no intellectual. But knowing enough Latin (in addition to being bilingual in French and German, and having some Italian) for this was not unusual, it was expected of him as a Prince Elector of Hannover.
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-18 01:37 pm (UTC)Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-19 01:38 pm (UTC)Lehndorff wasn't too keen on him, as mentioned, but he does report the lack of education, so if it was a legend/rumor, it was one already known to contemporaries and deeemed believable. In his entry on January 24th (i.e. Fritz' birthday) 1753, he writes: Great gala dinner at the Queen's; all foreign princes participate, including Prince Moritz, who is an odd fellow. His father let him grow up completely according to nature, without providing him with the least bit of education. As a result, he's grown into an idiot the likes of which habe rarely been seen. He has a strong disposition towards all things military, loves his soldiers like a commander, loves his horses and his dogs. He also treats them all in the same style.
Mind you, of course he could exaggarate. (See also Voltaire, well, some guy claiming in the 1752 pamphlet that AW could neither read nor write until Fritz got on the throne because FW didn't believe in education.) But even taking this with a pinch of salt, I think it's a safe bet Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau can't have received much of an education, and people noticed.
*now envisions the sons of old Dessauer singing Pink Floyd*
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2021-01-13 04:22 pm (UTC)I'm just going to say it again: FW is a fish out of water in his place and time!
the Old Dessauer, who supposedly had his sons raised with minimum to no education at all to see what would happen. (Says Lehndorff when writing about one of the sons: the result was such that we should hope no prince will ever try such foolery again.)
Hahaha, well, Lehndorff is not wrong, because Horowski tells me that this is exactly what happened with Ferdinand III/IV of Sicily/Naples, who was married to Maria Carolina of Austria, one of MT's daughters. His tutors were instructed by his father (the king of Spain) to teach him hunting, but not overstrain his mind. So he ended up with the impulse control and interests of your average 4 year old: playing chase, putting marmalade in people's hats, tickling the ambassadors, etc.
When Joseph II, while madly touring Europe, came to visit, Horowski reports this amazing anecdote (courtesy I *think* of British envoy William Hamilton, though I would need to check and I don't have time):
They're at a ball. Ferdinand isn't into dancing, because it exceeds his impulse control abilities. He's running around, romping, playing chase, racing up and down the hall, like a toddler. He's all sweaty when he runs into Joseph. As a gesture of affection toward his brother-in-law, he puts his hand on Joseph butt.
Joseph, who's been tolerantly putting up with the antics during his stay, freezes, gives Ferdinand A Look, and removes the hand. A diplomatic incident nearly ensues, because Ferdinand's never been told no before, and he's staring in horror at Joseph like the ground has fallen down from beneath his feet. If you're not allowed to put your sweaty hand on the Holy Roman Emperor's butt, what *are* you allowed to do?
Diplomatic crisis is averted by Ferdinand the easily distracted spotting the delightfully ticklish ambassador and running off to give chase.
MT, by all accounts, was horrified by Joseph's account of the man her daughter was married to, and *she* nearly incited an international incident.
Daughter Maria Carolina: If you upset him, it might result in him not getting me pregnant, and then where will the succession be? I got this, Mom, chill.
MC: *has seventeen children*
MC: *runs the country*
Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2021-01-18 04:31 pm (UTC)I don't know if 18th century French had the sheer amount of elision that modern French does, but I would absolutely not expect someone spelling French phonetically to consistently separate the words. It's been argued by phonologists that modern French doesn't have word-level stress but only phrase-level stress, meaning that phonologically the phrase is more of a conceptual unit than the words. Fritz's spelling here might actually be evidence that the phenomenon had already begun 300 years ago, but with only a single data point, I can't say.
(added to his natural capacity to be extremely awfully bad at picking kidstaff...)
You mean accidentally extremely good. :D But, yeah, as Selena says, FW being a fish out of water means that it would be very hard for him to find anyone who was a hundred percent on board with his educational program.